“It does! I can’t figure any of it out, and when I try, my head starts hurting again.”
“I guess it’s nothing to worry your pretty little head over, is it?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kendrick took a giant step back. “My mother told me that those are fighting words to a woman from the twenty-first century, so I had to try them!”
Alyssa shook her head. “You’re taking your life into your own hands!”
He chuckled. “Just don’t kill me in my sleep…not before the wedding night at least.”
Alyssa froze. Why hadn’t she thought there would be a wedding night? Too many books with marriages of convenience probably. She needed to get her head on straight.
Heather hurried over then, smiling at Alyssa. “Another of my best friends now married to one of my sons. I do believe I live the strangest life in the entire history of strange lives.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Alyssa saw Kendrick slip out of the way, so she leaned toward Heather. “Kendrick expects a wedding night. Is that weird?”
Heather shook her head. “It’s a pretty natural thing for a man to expect.”
“But…I don’t know him!”
“You will after your wedding night.” Heather grinned at her friend.
“I guess I’ll have to figure this out then, won’t I?”
“Guess you will.”
“No advice for me before I sleep with your son?” Alyssa asked, trying to make Heather as uncomfortable as she felt.
“No, but you should ask if Beth has advice for you before you sleep with her grandson. She’s better at those things than I am. Of course, she’s been married sixty-five years or so.” Heather shrugged, a smile lingering on her lips.
“How long have you been married now?” Alyssa asked. It was confusing to say the least.
“Thirty-five years. I know it’s weird because I just saw you a year and a half ago in your time, but here, it’s been a lifetime.”
“I wish we’d grown old together,” Alyssa said, feeling sad.
“Are you calling me old?” Heather asked, putting her hands on her hips indignantly.
Holli came over and linked arms with Alyssa. “We’re both calling you old.”
“I’m the youngest out of the three of us!” Heather complained.
“Look in a mirror, old lady,” Alyssa said, finding confidence in having Holli beside her.
“We should get together in the afternoons,” Holli suggested. “Heather, Beth, and I always meet in the parlor to mend or sew or eat or…well, whatever we feel like doing.”
“I like the whatever we feel like doing part of the afternoon,” Alyssa said, smiling. She looked at Holli. “Are you taking notes on everything you see so you can write it all down later?”
Holli laughed. “I’d describe it as someone from the future, not someone from this time. How would that look?”
“No clue!” Alyssa said. “But you’d finally be able to write what you want to write.”
“Maybe when the boys are older,” Holli said.
Alyssa blinked. “You could do it now, before the first one is born.”
Holli shrugged. “Being pregnant has done two things to me. Made me very weepy and very relaxed. I have no desire to do anything but eat and sleep. And grow. I want my baby to grow.”
Heather looked at Holli and frowned. “Are you worried about the baby? Do you want me to have Gavin check on you?”
“Nah. I think I’m doing fine. I’m just not…feeling urgent about anything.”
